Battlefields›Siege of Tralee
modern

Siege of Tralee

1920
Scotland
Era
modern
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
Outcome
Irish withdrawal. Siege lifted.
The Battle

History & Significance

The siege of Tralee was an event that took place between 1 and 9 November 1920 in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.

Patrick Cahill, the Officer Commanding Kerry No. 1 Brigade, Irish Republican Army instructed the Tralee Battalion to carry out reprisal attacks for the death (on hunger strike) of Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney. On the night of 31 October 1920, Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Constable Patrick Waters and RIC Constable Ernest Bright had been kidnapped, shot and killed by IRA volunteers in Tralee. In response to the seizure of two of their colleagues and in an attempt to recover the bodies, British Black and Tans imposed a curfew on the town, shot local people who appeared on the streets, insisted that the local businesses close and stopped all food and drink from entering the town. Tralee Town Hall and several shops were burned down and two civilians were shot dead (John Conway and Tommy Wall).

Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, ordered that the siege be lifted on 9 November 1920.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Tralee lies on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.

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This page covers Siege of Tralee. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Tralee

Lochnell Primary School, standing stone 7m SW of, Benderloch
Lochnell Primary School, standing stone 7m SW of, Benderloch
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~0.7 mi

Lochnell Primary School Standing Stone is a Bronze Age monolith situated seven metres south-west of Lochnell Primary School near Benderloch in Argyllshire. The stone stands upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, metamorphic rocks of psammite, semipelite and pelite that were formed during the Neoproter…

Dun Mac Sniachan, forts and dun, Benderloch
Dun Mac Sniachan, forts and dun, Benderloch
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~0.8 mi

Dun Mac Sniachan is a complex of Iron Age forts and a dun situated in Benderloch, Argyllshire, in the west Highlands of Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by Argyll Group metasedimentary rocks—psammite, semipelite and pelite—formed during the Neoproterozoic aeons and now exposed in the…

New Selma,standing stone 400m SSW of
New Selma,standing stone 400m SSW of
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~0.9 mi

New Selma is a Bronze Age standing stone located in Argyllshire, Scotland, approximately 400 metres south-south-west of the settlement from which it takes its name. The monument stands upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic formation of psammite, semipelite and pelite that underlies m…

Achnamoine,cairn 275m NW of
Achnamoine,cairn 275m NW of
Scheduled monument · ~1 mi

Achnamoine Cairn is a prehistoric burial monument situated in Argyllshire, Scotland, standing 275 metres north-west of Achnamoine. The cairn is constructed upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, a suite of metamorphic rocks formed during the Neoproterozoic era, comprising psammite, semipelite and peli…

Barcaldine,three cairns 170m SE of Castle Farm
Barcaldine,three cairns 170m SE of Castle Farm
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~1 mi

Barcaldine is a triple cairn monument situated 170 metres south-east of Castle Farm in Argyllshire, Scotland. The three cairns stand on bedrock formed from the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic sequence of psammite, semipelite and pelite that underlies this landscape. Medieval cairn groups of this t…

Achnacree Moss,crannog 210m SW of Moss Cottage
Achnacree Moss,crannog 210m SW of Moss Cottage
Scheduled monument · Iron Age–Medieval · ~1.8 mi

Achnacree Moss Crannog is an Iron Age to medieval artificial island settlement located 210 metres south-west of Moss Cottage in Argyllshire, Scotland. The site sits upon bedrock of Devonian mafic lava and tuff, part of the region's volcanic geology that shaped the landscape inhabited by its ancie…

Balure,three cairns 750m SW of
Scheduled monument · ~1.3 miles
Ledaig House, cairn 20m SE of
Scheduled monument · ~1.3 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Tralee

Alexander II's Campaign in Argyll, 1221-1222
1221
~0.7 miles away
Battle of Stalc, Appin
~5.3 miles away
Oban, Mckelvie Hospital, Glenshellach
~7.1 miles away
Donald Dubh's Rebellion, 1545
1545
~7.7 miles away
Aubrey Research

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